Below is an excerpt from the most recent edition of WisBusiness Tuesday Trends.
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RISING
Ginseng: State officials have embarked on Gov. Scott Walker’s first trade mission abroad, spending more than a week in China, one of the state’s top markets for both overall exports and agricultural exports. Both get a boost right off the bat when the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin signs an agreement with Tong Ren Tang Health Pharmaceutical. The accord with the Beijing company ensures a trademark seal will appear on their purchases of Wisconsin ginseng for the next decade. The plant — whose American crop is harvested almost entirely in Wisconsin — has long been used for traditional medicinal purposes. The governor says the deal could be worth between $150 million and $200 million in sales for Wisconsin over the length of the deal, and Ginseng Board officials say the exclusive deal is the first of its kind in the industry.
MIXED
Tech assets: Wisconsin ranks in the middle of the pack nationally on a pair of new assessments of states’ technological assets. The State Technology and Science Index, issued every two years by the Milken Institute, put Wisconsin at No. 25 for its science and technology sectors, down from 24th on the 2010 list. And data compiled by Akamai Technologies places Wisconsin at No. 22 among the 50 states in average broadband Internet speed, and at No. 26 for adopting service faster than 4 megabits per second. Wisconsin’s average broadband speed was 7.3 megabits, behind nation-leading averages of more than 10 megabits per second.
FALLING
Oshkosh Corp.: The Fox Valley defense contractor had to lay off hundreds earlier this year due to a drop in federal defense spending and now says an even bigger round is coming this summer. Oshkosh Corp. officials announce that 900 workers — 700 hourly employees and 200 salaried staff — will be laid off by the end of July, citing an anticipated 30 percent drop in production levels due to continued reductions in military vehicle demand. The newly announced layoffs would bring the total amount of job reductions this year to 1,315 at its Oshkosh facility; the company expects 2,800 employees to remain in its defense sector after this summer’s cuts.
